Benetton Targets 2026 Profits Following Restructuring Led by Sforza

Benetton resets the counter to zero. The Italian company, once one of the world’s largest groups in the fashion industry, is starting to think in black numbers for next year after reaping the first fruits of the restructuring plan of Claudio Sforza, CEO of the company since May 2025.

The company launched a restructuring plan in October 2024 to contain its losses, and at the end of that year it posted a red number of €60 million, compared to €230 million the previous year.

Now, according to Italian press reports, the group has notified the unions that it plans to return to profit in 2026 or 2027 as a result of the plan and the injection of €260 million made by Edizione, the Benetton family’s holding company, last year.

In the last year, Benetton has closed production sites in Tunisia, Croatia and Serbia, while in Italy it has transferred workers from the Ponzano Veneto plant to Castrette di Villorba. The company has reduced its workforce by more than one hundred employees with an incentive redundancy plan, so that by the end of 2025, Benetton had 700 workers, compared to 1,100 a year ago.

Benetton continues with its restructuring plan and is now preparing the spin-off of some of its subsidiaries

The personnel adjustment is not only a consequence of the adjustment in the production activity, but also in the distribution area. The company has closed around 500 unprofitable stores worldwide, leaving a total of around 3,000 outlets.

The company is moving ahead with its restructuring plan and the next steps include the spin-off of some of the group’s subsidiaries, including e-commerce. The Italian group’s online sales now account for 13% of total business, with the forecast to rise to between 20% and 25% by 2025.

Although Benetton has been languishing for years, it was at the end of 2023 when Luciano Benetton, the company’s co-founder, resigned as executive chairman after a €100 million budget hole surfaced as a result of a business and management crisis.

At that time, Benetton suddenly dismissed its CEO, Massimo Renon, who was replaced by Claudio Sforza. The Italian company ended the 2024 financial year with a turnover of €917 million, 16.4% less than the previous year.